Fr. Thomas J. Bresnahan, 83, of Manchester, NH passed away peacefully on August 15th the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at Mt. Carmel Nursing and Rehabilitation in Manchester.

He was born and educated in Manchester, NH, the son of the late Catherine (Walsh) and Patrick Bresnahan. Father Tom graduated from St. Joseph High School for Boys, Class of 1951. He completed his ecclesiastical studies at the College Chapel of the American College at Louvain, Belgium and he was ordained to the priesthood there in 1960.
During his 50 years of priesthood, he was affiliated with numerous parishes. He was the Associate Pastor at St. Catherine Parish in Portsmouth, St. Kieran Parish in Berlin, NH and St. John the Evangelist in Concord. He taught for 4 years at Bishop Brady in Concord later becoming the Chaplain at Rivier College in Nashua. He was Pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Jaffrey, NH and St. Joseph Parish in Nashua. Father Tom was the founding Pastor at St. Mark's in Londonderry and served there from 1981 -2000 until his retirement. He served on the School Board in Jaffrey in the 70's.

He spent a good part of his retirement years in Vero Beach, FL where he became good friends with the Paulist Fathers. He worked at St. Helen's in Vero Beach. Father Tom made many friends during his time in Florida. Upon his return from Florida, he resided at the Bishop Peterson House in Manchester until his illness.

Father Tom will be sadly missed by his sister, Mary Martin of Hampton, NH, her family and his parish family of St. Mark The Evangelist Parish. The family would like to extend a special thank you to his great nephew, James Martin, III for the loving care he gave to Father Tom during his lengthy illness.

On Sunday, August 20th visitation will be at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, 1 South Rd. Londonderry, NH from 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM. On Monday, August 21st, the Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 AM at St. Mark the Evangelist Church. The Rite of Committal will be in the family plot at St. Joseph Cemetery in Bedford, NH. The Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home, 214 Main St. Salem, NH has care of the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Father Tom's name may be sent to: Catholic Charities of NH, 215 Myrtle Street, Manchester, NH 03104-4354.

To send a message of condolence to the family, please view the obituary at www.douglasandjohnson.com